Here is my question, with the reports that Harper (Boras) has met with Ted a few times, including several hours the other day........what is there to discuss? We know what he brings. He knows what the organization has to offer. Who is doing the most selling? Is Boras selling Harper to Ted, or is Ted trying to sell the Nats to Harper? I personally think the Rendon negotiations are also tied into this Harper situation, but that's just me.

Here is my question, with the reports that Harper (Boras) has met with Ted a few times, including several hours the other day........what is there to discuss? We know what he brings. He knows what the organization has to offer. Who is doing the most selling? Is Boras selling Harper to Ted, or is Ted trying to sell the Nats to Harper? I personally think the Reiondon negotiations are also tied into this Harper situation, but that's just me.

I was wondering this as well. What could they possibly have been talking about for hours.

And if he is talking about another player in reference to Harper’s contract then he’s committing malpractice.

Here is my question, with the reports that Harper (Boras) has met with Ted a few times, including several hours the other day........what is there to discuss? We know what he brings. He knows what the organization has to offer. Who is doing the most selling? Is Boras selling Harper to Ted, or is Ted trying to sell the Nats to Harper? I personally think the Reiondon negotiations are also tied into this Harper situation, but that's just me.

Here is my question, with the reports that Harper (Boras) has met with Ted a few times, including several hours the other day........what is there to discuss? We know what he brings. He knows what the organization has to offer. Who is doing the most selling? Is Boras selling Harper to Ted, or is Ted trying to sell the Nats to Harper? I personally think the Rendon negotiations are also tied into this Harper situation, but that's just me.

It's fair to think about that, but there's a lot of discussions of smaller aspects, though a lot of those are with other teams. Players aren't familiar with other organizations so they get hours-long meetings and tours of facilities and meet all the primary people.

For example, during these meetings, Harper and Boras may ask about how teams manage:

- Travel- Family Travel- Family accommodations (NYY has an in-stadium family play room, for example)- Overall facilities plan (weight rooms, clubhouse, spring complex, etc.)- Coaching Staff & Organizational Philosophy- How a player fits into the team long-term- Player-to-team communication- Money, of course.

Now, a lot of those things - Harper knows with the Nationals. He knows the facilities, accommodations, everything. So I'd suspect that any hours-long meetings with Nats ownership comes down to discussing Harper's value beyond the field (Boras making presentations about Harper's value to DC and the Nationals brand) and the Nats countering with concerns over his health and consistency compared to other elite players. I would suspect that Boras has a long presentation for Ted and Mark (and Mike) and the Lerners discuss big-picture stuff and, I am guessing, things like "Bryce, how would you invest in the DC community if we committed to you for 10 years?"

I'd assume they also discussed various deal frameworks including something shorter than 10 years with an AAV > $30 million, opt-outs, etc., as well as long-term vision for the team. I'd assume Bryce would love to see Rendon extended, and that he's over the potential of sharing an OF with Robles and Soto. They probably also discussed a potential transition path for him to 1B

It sure seems like there isn't a clear favorite to lure the 2015 National League MVP away from Washington, which may explain why the Nationals are keeping in touch: They smell an opportunity.

It's to the Nationals' credit that they haven't been sitting on their hands as the Harper saga plays out. They made a huge addition to their starting rotation when they inked ace left-hander Patrick Corbin to a six-year, $140 million contract. Anibal Sanchez was a smaller yet hardly insignificant upgrade.

Meanwhile on the offensive side of things, the Nats erased a huge question mark at catcher by bringing in 2018 All-Star Yan Gomes and Kurt Suzuki. Throw in Matt Adams as a platoon partner for Ryan Zimmerman at first base, and you get a darn good response to a disappointing 82-win campaign in 2018.

The only downside is that the Nationals have inflated their payroll in the process. Roster Resource projects their 2019 expenses at $191.7 million, and at $193.8 million for luxury tax purposes. The latter puts them $12.2 million below the $206 million threshold for 2019.

Barring a whole bunch of salary dumps, there's no way the Nationals can re-sign Bryce Harper and stay under that threshold. The deal he rejected in September would have counted $30 million per year against the tax. Realistically, it'll likely take something closer to a $350 million total guarantee with a $35 million average annual value to actually get him to sign on the ol' dotted line.

However, the luxury tax isn't necessarily the deal-breaker that it's made out to be.

As long as the Nationals don't exceed the threshold by more than $40 million, they'd only be signing up for financial penalties if they brought Harper back. At worst, they'd be looking at a $12 million-to-$15 million tax in 2019, after which they could soften future blows by parting ways with Zimmerman, Adam Eaton and Howie Kendrick.

That cost shouldn't be too great, provided the potential reward for signing Harper is far greater. And in this case, the potential reward is nothing less than National League superiority.

I'd assume they also discussed various deal frameworks including something shorter than 10 years with an AAV > $30 million, opt-outs, etc., as well as long-term vision for the team. I'd assume Bryce would love to see Rendon extended, and that he's over the potential of sharing an OF with Robles and Soto. They probably also discussed a potential transition path for him to 1B

I've been thinking since this past season that Harper would be a great guy to ultimately transiton to 1B, especially with this year being the last guaranteed year for Zimmerman. This will take a lot of wear and tear off Harper and allow him to do what he does best: Hit. I can see us declining the option for Zimmerman for 2020 (duh), and possibly bringing him back on a much cheaper deal to finish his career. Zim could platoon with Harper at 1B, and Harper could play a little OF for a few more years when Zim starts against lefties.

I was looking at MLBTR today. There's a story on needs for teams in the AL Central. The Indians seem to be one team that is a contender that also is looking for an OF. They aren't a Harper contender, but you might think they'd be interested in Eaton were Harper to come back to the Nats. You might even see Eaton as part of a deal for a pitcher, along with other pieces, like perhaps Garcia, for Bauers or even Kluber if it would not trigger the higher lux tax level.

I was looking at MLBTR today. There's a story on needs for teams in the AL Central. The Indians seem to be one team that is a contender that also is looking for an OF. They aren't a Harper contender, but you might think they'd be interested in Eaton were Harper to come back to the Nats. You might even see Eaton as part of a deal for a pitcher, along with other pieces, like perhaps Garcia, for Bauers or even Kluber if it would not trigger the higher lux tax level.

there was speculation a few weeks ago that an Eaton for Gomes deal would have worked for both sides if we kept Harper, so I guess we need to see if Cleveland has a reliable LHP now that would have equal value to Eaton.

If we sign Harper, then I believe a major goal in dealing Eaton is to rid his 8.4 million salary. Now, that's not a bad price tag for him, so you do expect something in return aside from them just taking the contract off your hands. However, I imagine we would be looking for cheap controllable players in return. A LH bullpen arm or perhaps a SP that is close to MLB-ready with some upside.

If we sign Harper, then I believe a major goal in dealing Eaton is to rid his 8.4 million salary. Now, that's not a bad price tag for him, so you do expect something in return aside from them just taking the contract off your hands. However, I imagine we would be looking for cheap controllable players in return. A LH bullpen arm or perhaps a SP that is close to MLB-ready with some upside.

What will you get for a guy who will miss half the season and limp around the other half?

If we sign Harper, then I believe a major goal in dealing Eaton is to rid his 8.4 million salary. Now, that's not a bad price tag for him, so you do expect something in return aside from them just taking the contract off your hands. However, I imagine we would be looking for cheap controllable players in return. A LH bullpen arm or perhaps a SP that is close to MLB-ready with some upside.

Unlike a lot of salary dumps, Eaton is still pretty good value over the next couple of years and could start right away for Cleveland, so I think he could be a component of a deal for something you want. Cleveland would probably be OK with a straight salary swap. Kluber is due $36MM over the next 3 years, Eaton is about $15MM if his first option in 2020 is not picked up ($25MM if if it is). OTOH, there's no way the Nats could get a pitcher as good as Kluber for 3 years and only have to pay an incremental $11MM, so I think a deal built around a Kluber for Eaton plus a prospect may make some sense.

Edit - Bauers projects to be more expensive than Kluber at 2 more years of arb and an MLBTR projection of $11.6MM for this year.

What will you get for a guy who will miss half the season and limp around the other half?

Am I missing something? Is Eaton injury prone. From what I can tell, he had one (granted, major) injury and now seems to be back playing at a high level. He doesn't seem to have missed significant time when he was in Chicago. So he tore his ACL, missed some time because of a misdiagnosed ankle problem related to the initial injury and came back and played a majority of the season at a level at or higher than pre-injury. Why does everyone act like he is basically a cripple now?

Am I missing something? Is Eaton injury prone. From what I can tell, he had one (granted, major) injury and now seems to be back playing at a high level. He doesn't seem to have missed significant time when he was in Chicago. So he tore his ACL, missed some time because of a misdiagnosed ankle problem related to the initial injury and came back and played a majority of the season at a level at or higher than pre-injury. Why does everyone act like he is basically a cripple now?

Because he limps when he runs? And only played a total of 118 games over two years?

He tore his ACL and an ankle ligament on that play in April 2017. He came back because they misdiagnosed an issue with the ankle. When they figured out what it was and fixed it he was fine.

Ok. I mean his injury was so bad it was like three major injuries. I don’t know that he is injury prone. I do know that he has not played the equivalent of one season over two. If he was on another team and the Nats gave up something good for him would you be pleased?